Vincent's White Rose
by Fiori-161
Summary: The fate of his whole world would be decided in an instant. Yuffentine, post DoC
1. Chapter 1: A Cure for Nightmares

Hey people, what's happening? Okay, being bored for the majority of these holidays, I have gone through all twenty one pages of Yuffentine fics and read about three quarters of them. With such an influx of fluffy romance (shudders) I have my own story to contribute. But, warning: I suck at writing anything resembling romance, so if you don't like it, don't flame; it shows that you have nothing to contribute. Well, it's time for my old saying...what was it again? Oh yeah:

Read On and Enjoy

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He had hardly moved from his seat in Seventh Heaven since he had returned. His glowing red eyes stared without seeing at the wall opposite him. His long, tattered red cape hung limply, barely moving. His golden claw tapped an everlasting beat, digging into the wood, while his right hand held an empty glass. Vincent Valentine was broken; even after saying goodbye to Lucrecia in the cave and returning to his friends after a week of absence. His happiness was soon overshadowed by nightmares that had shattered any peace of mind he had achieved after Chaos had returned to the Lifestream; nightmares of the screams he had heard while fighting Omega belonging to the people he cared about. He shuddered at the thought of it; he wasn't going to lose anyone he cared about again. He wasn't going to lose _her_, no matter how hard he had to fight to keep her in his life.

"Vincent?" a voice asked. It was Tifa, his gaze flickering over to her for a brief second before returning to the wall.

"Another glass please, Tifa," he said, placing the glass on the bar. Even though the bar was closed, Tifa had continued to serve him, hoping that maybe he'd get drunk enough to start talking. Cloud didn't approve, but it was a perfectly sound plan; in theory, drunk people tended to be a bit more vocal about their problems. In practice, Vincent remained as silent as ever, only speaking to ask for another drink. For two weeks he had sat there, leaving only to sit on the roof; obviously Chaos leaving him hadn't affected his insomnia.

"Vince," Tifa began, trying to get him to talk, "drowning your problems in alcohol doesn't get rid of them, you know?"

"It seems to work for Cid," Vincent replied, "Why shouldn't it work for me?"

"Because Cid normally gets over his problems the day after getting himself drunk," Tifa retorted, crossing her arms, "and he normally goes on and on about what's bugging him. You don't; you've sat there for two weeks and all of us are really getting worried. So, please Vincent, talk to me," Tifa came around the bar and sat next to the red-clad gunslinger, "What's wrong?"

"You don't need to know," Vincent said, not looking at her.

"I don't, but Yuffie does," Tifa said, playing a card she didn't want to play. Vincent's entire body visibly tightened at the mention of the Wutaian ninja. "You may not want to see it, but she cares a lot about you."

Vincent didn't say anything. He knew exactly how Yuffie felt, because she had screamed it at him only two nights before, adding to the already overwhelming sense of pain he felt from his nightmares. But, lacking that vital piece of information, Yuffie had proceeded to lose her temper and yell at him for "living in the past with that frozen dead chick" and being blind to Yuffie. He was far from being blind to the self-proclaimed White Rose of Wutai, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want her mind tainted by these nightmares. So, with his lack of response, she growled and ran up the stairs.

"Vincent Valentine, if you don't start talking about what's wrong," Tifa said threateningly, "I swear to God I will bring-."

"Nightmares," Vincent said, cutting Tifa's threat off, "Since I came back, I've been having nightmares. Not just when I'm asleep, but whenever I close my eyes, always the same one."

'Finally,' Tifa thought, 'we're getting somewhere.' Out loud, she said, "What kind of nightmares?"

Vincent didn't clam up and stop talking, or say something like, "You wanted to know what was wrong and I told you." Instead, he looked down, and Tifa caught a glimpse of his crimson eyes filled with sadness and pain.

"I'm inside Omega," Vincent said, voice trembling, "and I hear screaming. At first I think it's the screams that the people of Edge heard coming from Midgar, but then I listen closer." His fists clenched as he forced himself to recant what was happening in his head, "and I hear Yuffie's voice, your voice, Cid's, Nanaki's, Clouds, Reeve's and Barret's...you're all in pain. I try to find you," his whole body constricted even tighter than before, and Tifa could see the pain he was in. "But I can't," a tear falls from one of his eyes, "and when the screaming stops, I wake up. Yuffie's is the worst," he kept going, "she screams the loudest, is in the most pain, and it feels like someone is trying to rip my heart out of my chest whenever I wake up; I'm not fast enough to save her, or anyone."

"Vincent..." Tifa said, and then looked up. A figure was standing by the stairs, leaning against the wall, a look of horror on their face. "Yuffie," Tifa said quietly, and Vincent's head snaps up and locks his crimson gaze with Yuffie's stormy grey eyes. She had heard everything Vincent had said; about her being in pain, everything. Tears in her eyes, she ran back up the stairs. Vincent made a move to go after her, but Tifa held him back.

"Don't," she said, "Let me go; I'll try to explain that you didn't-."

"No," Vincent said, shaking the hand off, "This is something I need to do." With that, he moved up the stairs without falling over, which was a feat seeing as he had already consumed an entire bottle of whisky today.

****

Yuffie was sitting on her bed, crying. She had come down from her room to see if her tirade had made even a little difference to Vincent, only to hear that he was having nightmares in which his friends were in trouble. Which meant the reasons that she had screamed at him were totally wrong, and he had just taken it, which was worse, right? Yuffie hated herself right now; she had fallen for Vincent a long time ago, and finding out about his nightmares after she had yelled at him for living in the past with that Lucrecia chick and that he should wake up and see what was in front of him; her.

Tears kept spilling out of her eyes, and she didn't try and stop them. She deserved to cry after what she'd done; she deserved to suffer. Vincent had done nothing to her to deserve what she had yelled at him. He had done nothing but look after her; hell, he had even jumped through _darkness _to save her life, and she had screamed at him? What sort of thanks was that? Now that she knew why he drank so much, she felt utterly worthless.

"_Yuffie's is the worst," _he had said; even in his dreams, she was causing him pain. Her tears increased, and her body was wracked with sobs. She didn't hear her door open, or the metal boots walk across her floor or even the swish as Vincent sat down and wrapped his cloak and an arm around her. She felt the arm and her tears stopped as she looked up and met Vincent's concerned gaze.

"Yuffie," he began softly, but he didn't get a chance to continue as Yuffie suddenly started bawling again, burying her face into his shirt. Vincent didn't flinch away; he pulled her closer, wrapping both arms around her. He pulled her closer to him, offering what comfort he could; but it only made Yuffie cry harder.

"Vince...I'm...sor...sorry," Yuffie said between sobs. Vincent rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. He rested his head on hers, keeping her close. He had caused this, and he was going to fix it.

"Yuffie, I should be the one apologising," he said quietly.

"Nooo," Yuffie moaned into his chest, "I'm the one apologising; I shouldn't have screamed at you."

"You didn't know," Vincent said, "I didn't want to tell you; I didn't want you to have my nightmares on your mind."

Yuffie stopped crying and looked up at Vincent. Internally, Vincent thanked any and all gods there were that she had stopped.

"But you..." Yuffie started to say, and then she shook herself, dried her eyes and tried to think straight. Something that was kinda hard when the guy of your dreams was holding you in his arms. "You made us all worry Vince," she said, "you made _me _worry; when Shelke told me where she found you...I thought you were still living in the past, with Lucrecia." Shelke had told Yuffie everything about Lucrecia, and the thought that Vincent was holding on to someone that hadn't loved him the way he loved her hurt like hell. Yuffie loved Vincent, and when she was faced with the fact that he loved someone else was the worst sort of pain she could imagine.

"I've already said my goodbyes to Lucrecia," Vincent said, looking down at the woman in his arms. He didn't like seeing Yuffie like this; though her normal bubbly personality was sometimes wearing, it was how Vincent liked to see her. Seeing her with tears in her eyes, vulnerable, made Vincent's heart contract in pain; it was worse than listening to her screams every night.

"But I didn't _know that,_" Yuffie said to him, "I was so angry when I thought you were-" she stopped then and looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. Vincent slid his right hand under her chin and lifted her face up.

"Yuffie," he said, and the way he said it made a shiver go down the Wutaian's spine, "I...I didn't want you to be burdened by my pain. But, the way you are now...it's made me realise that I was wrong. You carried my pain, even when you didn't know what it was." Vincent's eyes flickered, searching her face for something. Then, he leaned forward slightly, and Yuffie became paralysed. He wasn't going to kiss her...was he? Yuffie's arms were still on his chest, and her hands slid up and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer. Vincent didn't need any more incentive to do what he wanted to do. His right hand slid into her hair, and he pushed his lips to hers. Vincent slowly moved his lips over Yuffie's, and after a moment of shock that Vincent, _Vincent, _was kissing her, she kissed him back. The kiss deepened as Vincent held Yuffie tightly against his body, and her arms tightened around his neck in response. Yuffie used the kiss to show Vincent how much she loved him, knotting her fingers into his hair and not letting him go, a moan of pleasure in her throat. She was going to make the nightmares go away, even if it was the last thing she did.

After a few minutes, they broke apart for air, and Yuffie laid her head on Vincent's chest. He carefully laid his head on top of hers. This was how they stayed until Yuffie, already exhausted from all the crying, fell asleep. Carefully, Vincent laid her down on her bed and, after kissing her forehead, he headed for the door. When he opened it, he saw Tifa and Cloud on the other side. Both jerked away as the door opened, and Vincent stared at them.

"Tifa made me do it!" Cloud said quickly, backing off and pointing at the brunette. Tifa turned away from the gunslinger to and glared at the blonde swordsman, "What?" he said, sweat visible on his face. Vincent, for the first time in a long time, actually smirked as Tifa just glared at Cloud, who was starting to crumble. Vincent chuckled lightly as he closed the door on Cloud's, "I don't want to get shot!" and crossed back to Yuffie's bed. It didn't look like he was going to be getting out anytime soon, so he just lay down on the bed, his eyes feeling heavy. He turned to face Yuffie and made sure his cloak was covering her. Quickly, the gunslinger fell asleep, his arm around the young ninja he had just kissed. And for once, the nightmares hadn't come; his sleep was dreamless.

****

After Cloud had caved, Tifa's head went back to the door, listening for any sounds. She couldn't hear anything, so she decided to crack the door open and peek inside. She did so carefully, not wanting to get shot either. When she saw Vincent on the bed, she smiled and pulled her head back, closing the door quietly. She smiled at Cloud and went back down to the bar to finish cleaning up. She was right; talking about your problems got a solution quicker.

Cloud sighed and ran a hand over his face; his girlfriend wasn't being fair to him anymore. If he got shot for this in the morning, he was taking Fenrir and going to Cosmo Canyon for a while. He really needed a break from Tifa going into all of their friends businesses. It wasn't healthy, and sooner or later one of them wouldn't take it in good nature. Cloud shook his head and went down to help Tifa clean up, or she'd pull some other crazy stunt to get him down there.

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Yuffie: OMG that was cute!

Fiori: Yuffie *looks around wildly* where the %&$! did you come from?

Yuffie: You should really lock your doors

Fiori: Okay, I own nothing of the creative process for FFVII, i only own Dirge of Cerberus, which is the most KICK-ASS game ever!

Yuffie: Only coz I make an appearance!

Fiori: *groans* Ciao!


	2. Chapter 2: A Lot of Thinking

Hey everyone, I'd like to thank everyone that's reviewed. I'm pretty sure its the most reviews I've recieved in the first 24 hours of a story being posted...ever. This is the next chapter, so I hope you like it.

Read On and Enjoy

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When the sun hit his face, Vincent woke up, blinking. The first thing he noticed was that it was too bright in the room; the second was that Yuffie wasn't in his arms. He sat up slowly, looking around. Yuffie wasn't anywhere in sight, so Vincent stood up and walked out of the room, yawning. That was easily the best night sleep he'd had since returning to Edge, in no small part due to the previous night. He went into his room and grabbed Cerberus, then strode down the stairs, and was surprised to see that no one was in the bar. That was odd, and then he heard noises coming from the garage. So, Cloud was still here at least. Vincent entered the garage, watching Cloud tinker with that bike of his for a few minutes, until the spiky haired man noticed him.

"Hey, Vincent," Could said, standing up and wiping his hands on a cloth, "nice to see you moving again."

"Yeah," Vincent said, lightly. Then Vincent calmly drew Cerberus and pointed it at Cloud's head, making him pale and back off slightly. Vincent's finger tightened on the trigger, and then relaxed. He put the gun back in its holster, then smiled at Cloud, who breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I couldn't resist, and sorry about the past two weeks."

"Don't be, it all sorted itself out anyway," he said, clapping the gunslinger on the shoulder, "plus, you scored a girlfriend, so win-win in my opinion."

"You sound like Reno," Vincent observed. Cloud shrugged and left the garage, Vincent following.

"Where is Yuffie?" he asked as he and Cloud entered the bar. Cloud was opening Seventh Heaven for the morning trade. After Nero the Sable was killed, all the people he had sucked into darkness had returned, almost completely oblivious to what had happened to them. Of course, the psychologists were now doing quite well after the fact, so some of them remembered. Vincent took his seat at the bar, but if you had been looking at him the night before, you could see the immediate difference in his demeanour.

"Out with Tifa and the kids," Cloud said, "I think they said they were going grocery shopping and dropping by Shelke's place. I think Yuffie was going to break the bad news to her." Cloud smirked at Vincent's confused expression.

"Bad news," Vincent asked, "What bad news?"

"That you and Yuffie are a couple now," Cloud told him, "At least by default, anyway. Shelke's probably going to kill you."

Now what Cloud was saying made some sort of sense. Shelke had seemed to take a liking to him since the Deepground incident. At first Vincent had thought it was the remnants of Lucrecia's data, but it soon turned out he was wrong. He didn't need to make clear that nothing would happen between them; Shelke was still trapped in the body of a ten year old, even though she was the same age as Yuffie.

"You're right," Vincent said, "She probably will kill me." He started to chuckle, and Cloud joined in. Just then, the door opened and someone in a high-price uniform entered.

"Um, excuse me," he said in a Wutaian accent, "but I'm looking for a Miss Kisaragi?"

"She's out at the moment," Vincent said, "Can I ask why you need to see her?"

"I just need to deliver a missive from her father, Lord Godo," he said, pulling out a plain white envelope with the Wutaian royal seal on it. The second he mentioned Godo's name, Vincent went cold. Godo was a traditionalist to the truest sense of the word, and if he found out about Vincent and Yuffie...well, let's just say Vincent would rather fight Omega a hundred times...and a hundred times again.

"We'll make sure she gets it," Cloud said quickly. The messenger nodded and placed the envelope on the bar, leaving just as Yuffie, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel came back, laughing their heads off.

"Oh, I wish Vinnie could have seen the look on her face," Yuffie was saying holding her stomach in pain from the laughter. "I shouldn't laugh, but it was funny!"

"I will tolerate the pet-name Vince," Vincent said loudly, "But I draw the line at 'Vinnie'." Yuffie stopped laughing and looked up, smiling at him. She was back to normal now; her cheerful, bubbly self. She ran from the door, jumped onto Vincent's lap and kissed him full on the mouth. After a brief moment of surprise, Vincent kissed her back. Marlene and Tifa giggled, while Denzel and Cloud made gagging noises, which got them a glare from all three girls, Yuffie breaking the kiss to glare. Vincent just shook his head. Marlene began chasing Denzel for being 'an insensitive jerk', and Tifa just gave Cloud the "you're in trouble" look, making Vincent and Yuffie laugh loudly when Cloud began to cringe. Just then, the door opened again and Shelke came through the door. Her face was blank, but her eyes were orange instead of their normal blue. That was a sure sign she was pissed. Even in the cute outfit she was wearing (the outfit from the end of DoC), she still managed to exude terror from her tiny body.

"Vincent Valentine," she said coldly. Vincent wasn't the type to scare easily, but the way she said his name sent chills down his spine.

"Uh-oh," Yuffie said before giggling like a maniac, clinging to Vincent. Shelke advanced slowly, and if he wasn't weighed down by Yuffie, Vincent would have obeyed his instincts and ran like hell. Shelke stopped right beside Vincent and Yuffie, who was still giggling.

"Yuffie has just told me that the two of you are dating," Shelke said in her emotionless voice, "Is this true?" Vincent didn't want to answer; this was not going to end well. "Well, Vincent Valentine?"

"Uh..." Vincent couldn't make words form; he hadn't anticipated someone being angry with him. Tifa and Yuffie were giggling at him, which was even worse.

"Answer me, Vincent," Shelke said. Not trusting himself to speak, Vincent nodded. "I see," Shelke said, and then promptly fainted.

"Well," Yuffie said, after she finished giggling, "That was a bit anti-climatic, wasn't it, Vinnie?"

"I said don't call me that," Vincent replied. Yuffie just shook her head and kissed him on the cheek, before climbing off him and helping Tifa carry Shelke upstairs. Cloud watched with a hand over his mouth, stifling his laughter.

"What's so funny?" Vincent demanded. Cloud couldn't help it; he just broke down and started pounding the bar with his fist, laughing maniacally.

"Oh man, you should've seen your face, Vince!" Cloud managed to choke out, before Tifa called for his help. "Coming Teef," he called back, still laughing. Vincent groaned and put his head in his hands. If that was the reaction he got from a nineteen-but-trapped-in-a-ten-year-old-body girl, what was he going to get from Godo?

****

That evening, the only other exciting thing during the day was Cid calling Vincent to berate him for acting like a zombie for two weeks, then being made speechless by Yuffie seizing the phone and telling Cid the 'news', Cloud gave Yuffie the letter from Godo. She opened it quickly, scanned it, then crumpled it into a ball and threw it at the wall.

"What is it, Yuffie?" Vincent asked, with an arm around her shoulders.

"Old man wants me to come back to Wutai to 'meet' someone," she said darkly, "obviously it means that he's chosen a 'man' for me." Before Vincent could say anything, Yuffie said, "Well, we'll just have to go and show him that I already have a boyfriend, so he can stop panicking already; I'm not going to neglect Wutai when he dies." With this, she snuggled against Vincent's chest, while he absently ran his fingers through her hair. Internally, Vincent was trying to think. He had a funny feeling that Godo wasn't going to accept Vincent as a possible husband; they had met over thirty years ago, when Vincent was with the Turks. Vincent had been assigned to protect the political representative of the Shinra Manufacturing Company, who wanted permission to produce Wutaian weaponry. He needed a way to trap Godo into having to accept him and Yuffie as a couple, and tradition seemed to be the only way he could do that. But what tradition would stop Godo dead?

"Vince?" Yuffie asked, looking up at him "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Vincent asked, snapping out of his thought process.

"I said, are you okay?" Yuffie repeated, "You seem kinda dazed."

"I'm sorry," Vincent said, looking down and smiling, kissing the ninja's forehead, "I was just deep in thought."

"Not dirty thoughts, I hope," Yuffie said, making her fingers walk up Vincent's chest, looking at him seductively. Vincent blushed and grabbed her hand, stopping her train of thought. She pouted at him, and he just smiled and kissed her hand.

"You're no fun," Yuffie huffed, laying her head on his chest again, and he went back to running his fingers through her hair. At the bar, Tifa was watching them in their corner, and she silently went 'aww'. They were just so cute together. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and a pair of lips brushed against her cheek.

"You know it's rude to stare at people," Cloud whispered in her ear.

"It's also rude to sneak up on people," Tifa replied, placing her hands over his, "But I don't mind, so long as it's you."

"So, why are you watching them?" Cloud asked, "They're already together, so you can't play matchmaker. They don't have any problems, so you can't help with them."

"I can't help it," Tifa said, "They're so cute together. I just want them to stay that way."

Cloud didn't really agree on the 'cute' part, but the part about keeping them together he agreed on. After all the crap that had happened to Vincent over his lifetime, he deserved some happiness. Plus, he seemed to be able to calm Yuffie down, so that saved Cloud a headache when he was working on Fenrir and she just bounded up and started chatting about something that made little difference to the bike he was trying to fix. It was good that they were together, but he didn't think Godo would take it lying down. Not a chance in hell.

****

While Yuffie was sleeping, Vincent sat on the window sill and stared up at the moon. It wasn't that he was having trouble sleeping; he was still trying to think about a way to trump Godo. Yuffie was going to write a letter, but without a courier it would take about a month to reach Wutai, that explained she was in a relationship, and she'd bring him to meet Godo in a couple of months. She'd post the letter tomorrow, which gave Vincent a month to get a solution. As he looked at the moon, two solutions presented themselves; he could either ask Yuffie to marry him before they went to see Godo, or he could challenge the suitor Godo had picked for the _right _to marry her. He didn't know which was right, or which was wrong; both would piss Godo off to no end.

"Vince?" Yuffie's voice drifted across the room, he turned to see her sitting up, with a look of concern on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked as she climbed out of bed and walked over to him, "You didn't have another nightmare, did you?" She climbed on top of him, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"No," Vincent said, "I was just thinking."

"You've been doing that for a while now," Yuffie said, looking up at him, "What are you thinking about?"

"About how to approach your father so he doesn't kill me," Vincent replied truthfully.

"Stupid old man," Yuffie said, laying her head back on Vincent's chest, "Thinks he can just marry me off to whoever he wants. Marriage, ugh," Yuffie shuddered at the thought of it. This reaction sparked Vincent's interest; why would she shudder at the thought of marriage?

"What's so bad about marriage?" Vincent asked.

"Duh-the dress you dummy!" she said, smacking his chest and looking up at him again, "Can you honestly see me in a dress, or high heels, or wearing actual make-up? I'd look ridiculous." Suddenly, Vincent started laughing. It was quiet laughter, but it was still laughter. "What? What's so funny?" Yuffie asked, pouting.

"Is that you're only problem? How you'd look?" Vincent asked after his laughter subsided. When Yuffie nodded, Vincent started laughing again. She smacked him again; why was that so funny?

"Yuffie," Vincent said after he finished his laughing fit, "If I was to ask you to marry me, right now, are you honestly saying the only qualm you'd have is the fact that you would have to wear a dress, high heels and make-up? Not anything else?"

Yuffie had to think about that for a while, looking away from Vincent. Of course, she didn't want to have to wear some of those ridiculous dresses she had seen in bridal stores, or those death traps they called shoes. But was there anything else she would be worried about?

"Maybe those gushy vows people are always saying," Yuffie said finally. At the look from Vincent, she said, "All that 'I promise I will never leave you' crap. I mean, isn't that why you get married? So you don't have to leave the person you love? So that part seems kinda silly to me," she looked back up at Vincent, who was shaking his head. "What now?"

"I love you," Vincent said. It was not the response that Yuffie was expecting, so it took a while to process what he had just said. When she did, her eyes widened. Before she could respond, there was a squeal from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of someone running up the hall.

"Tifa's eavesdropping again," Vincent said with a hint of amusement. When Yuffie looked at him in confusion, he said "She and Cloud were by the door last night as well."

"Remind me to kick Tifa's ass in the morning," Yuffie said. Vincent agreed, and Yuffie smiled before yawning. Vincent slid off the window sill and carried Yuffie to bed, laying her down before he lay next to her. "Vincent?" Yuffie asked, with her eyes closed.

Vincent asked, "Yes, Yuffie?"

"I love you, too," she said sleepily. Vincent smiled before kissing her on the cheek. He knew what he was going to do now, the only question was when.

* * *

Well, that was fun wasn't it? I'll elaborate on what happened to Shelke next chapter, but for now; I do not own FFVII

Yuffie: If he did, it wouldn't be as awesome, would it?

Fiori: HOW THE %$##! DID YOU GET BACK IN HERE? I'VE ALREADY CHANGED THE LOCKS THREE TIMES!

Yuffie: But you didn't change the locksmith *grins*

Fiori:...aaaanyway, I'll see you for the next chapter. See ya!

Yuffie: Byeeee

Fiori: GET THE %^!#*? HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!


	3. Chapter 3: A Crimson Fury

It had been a month since Vincent and Yuffie had gotten together. It was easily the best month of Vincent's life, but it wasn't without its downs. Three more letters came from Godo, the last saying if he hadn't heard from Yuffie soon; he was coming down and bringing her back to Wutai. So, they had contacted Cid and asked him if he could take them to Wutai. It was clear that Yuffie's letter to her father hadn't arrived yet, so they at least needed to be on their way before he sent soldiers down to get Yuffie. Vincent wouldn't let that happen, so he had to move fast.

He was going to ask Yuffie to marry him. He had spent the past month searching for the right ring, a golden band with a piece of pure materia as a jewel that he had seen advertised for quite a bit of Gil, but he couldn't find it. It was getting beyond frustrating; he had found the jeweller who had advertised it, but it hadn't even been delivered from Costa del Sol yet. So, now Vincent was pissed, to say the least, because Cid was coming today to take Yuffie and him to Wutai.

"Vincent Valentine," a voice said behind him. Vincent turned and saw Shelke standing there. Vincent was reminded of when she had fainted after finding out about him and Yuffie, and suppressed a smile. As it turned out, she had only fainted because she had used her Mako abilities without wearing her Mako suit. After she had woken up, she had apologised to Vincent for being angry with him and wished him and Yuffie the best. He hadn't seen her after that, as he had been too busy receiving congratulations from everyone.

Since a month ago, Tifa (who wouldn't understand the meaning of 'mind your own business') and Yuffie had called everyone they knew and told them the news. Not just the AVALANCHE crew, but _everyone. _How Nanaki can even operate a phone is beyond Vincent's understanding, but even all the way up in Cosmo Canyon the news had been spread. They had even gotten a congratulatory message from Reeve via Cait Sith, who had danced around the bar, repeating the message for all the patrons of Seventh Heaven to hear, until a round from Cerberus shut him up. Reeve wasn't very happy when he came personally to congratulate them and his furry companion had three bullet holes in his head. Vincent had shrugged and said it was a misfire. Reeve didn't buy that, but Vincent stuck with his story. He didn't particularly enjoy all the attention, but Yuffie was soaking it all up so he kept his mouth shut and spent his time preparing for their meeting with Godo.

"Hello, Shelke," Vincent said, continuing his walk.

"I saw you at the jewellery store," Shelke said, quickly falling into step beside him, "What were you doing in there?"

"I could tell you," Vincent said, "But if you told Yuffie, you'd have to run far away to stop me from catching up with you."

"I will not tell her," Shelke promised, and Vincent believed her.

"I was...looking for an engagement ring."

"En...gage...ment ring?" Shelke asked, confused. When Vincent explained what it meant, Shelke did something very un-Shelke like. She gasped, squealed and bounced on the spot saying, "Oh my god" repeatedly for about two minutes. Vincent blinked at least fifty times during the whole thing, before Shelke managed to calm herself down.

"I am sorry," she apologised, "I do not know what came over me."

"That's okay," Vincent said, heading back to Seventh Heaven when his phone rang. He checked the caller Id. It was Cid.

"Hello?" Vincent answered the phone, and then flinched away when Cid began screaming through the phone.

"_HEY VINCENT, YOU #$!ING VAMPIRE, WHAT'S HAPPENING? I'M ABOUT AN HOUR OUT OF EDGE, SO GRAB YUR MISSUS AND BE THERE BEFORE I AM, OKAY?"_

"Cid, why are you yelling?" Vincent asked calmly.

"_Oh, sorry, I thought the brat would've deafened ya already, so..."_

"I'll see you in an hour, Cid."

"_See ya, Vincey!" _The line went dead. Seriously, what was wrong with calling him by his name? He tolerated Vince, but Vinnie and Vincey? He shook his head and started back to the bar when his phone rang again. This time, it was Yuffie. He answered quickly.

"_Hey, honey," _Yuffie said, _"where are you?"_

"About ten minutes away if I walk slowly," Vincent answered. "Cid just called. He said he'll be here in about an hour."

"_Great, we can finally stop those annoying messengers from coming in. 'Miss Kisaragi' this and 'Miss Kisaragi' that, I swear I'm gonna puke. So, what were you doing that I wasn't allowed to come along? Do you have a sultry mistress tucked away somewhere?"_

"Yes," Vincent asked sarcastically, "In fact, it's Shelke."

"_Oh my...Vinnie, did you just joke? Coz if not, I'm kicking your ass when you get back. Seriously, what's so secret that even Tifa can't find out what it is?"_

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?" Vincent replied. Tifa had tried following him into town whenever he went out, but he had sharpened up since she kept eavesdropping on him and Yuffie and gave her the slip every time she tried.

Yuffie sighed. _"Fine then, I'll get it out of you soon enough. I'll see you in a-." _Suddenly, there was crash in the background, and then some screams and yells, then, _"VINCENT!!!" _

"YUFFIE," Vincent screamed into the phone, but was met with a dial tone. He went cold, and started running. Shelke ran after him, asking what was wrong, but Vincent didn't answer.

****

Vincent arrived at the Seventh Heaven in only two minutes, Shelke on his heels. He burst into the bar, looking around wildly. The bar had been run through; chairs and stools overturned and destroyed.

"Hey, I'm back," Cloud's voice drifted through the silent bar. He came through the garage door. "Teef, they didn't have any of that stuff you want-." Cloud stopped when he took in the carnage. "Vincent, what happened?"

"I don't know," Vincent answered, crossing through the bar, looking for Yuffie. "I was on the phone with Yuffie, then there was a crash and she screamed my name, then the line went dead."

A groan from behind the bar told them that Tifa was still there. "Tifa," Cloud said, running behind the bar and picking her up.

"Cloud," she said weakly, "Where's Vincent? Got to tell him..." Tifa drifted off, but Cloud shook her roughly, keeping her awake. Vincent dug into his pockets for a Cure materia. It was only low grade, but it was enough to keep Tifa conscious and get her on her feet.

"Vince," Tifa started, clutching her head, "they took Yuffie. They just came through every door and grabbed her, I, I couldn't do anything."

"Who grabbed her Tifa?" Vincent asked.

"Wutaian soldiers," Tifa answered, and Vincent went even colder. Godo had sent troops to kidnap his own daughter? Vincent punched the bar with his claw, burying the golden metal in the wood. He drew it out and ran up the stairs, grabbing Cerberus and any spare ammunition he could carry. As he ran back down, he dialled Cid's number.

"_Vincent, what's up?"_

"Cid, if you pushed the Shera's engines to maximum, how quickly could you get to Edge?"

"_Why, you want to meet Godo that badly?" _

"GODO'S KIDNAPPED YUFFIE, YOU CHAIN-SMOKING OLD GEEZER!" Vincent roared into the phone, "HOW FAST CAN YOU GET HERE?"

"_I'll let the geezer comment slide this once, Vincent. I'll push Shera as fast as I can, but I won't be there for at least half an hour. There's nothing I can do about that, so don't you #$%ing yell at me, okay?"_

"Sorry, Cid," Vincent said, taking deep breaths. The call ended, and Vincent headed to the door. A hand grabbed his shoulder, making him swing around and almost stab his claw into Cloud's head.

"Vincent, what are you planning?" Cloud asked sternly. Vincent just glared, the crimson eyes locking onto the mako glow of the blonde. "Coz whatever it is, we can help."

"No, you can't," Vincent said, shrugging the hand off.

"The hell we can't help!" Tifa said, the action making her dizzy. She shook it off and marched straight to Vincent, poking him in the chest. "Yuffie's are friend too, you know! So, we are coming whether-."

"I didn't _say _that you couldn't come!" Vincent yelled, shocking the other three. "I said you couldn't help; this is something I have to do myself."

Neither Cloud nor Tifa had any idea what he meant, but Cloud still went back to the garage to grab his sword and its holder. He'd bring the entire set, but he only needed the main sword. Vincent had gone on ahead to the airfield, so Cloud grabbed Tifa and Shelke and took Fenrir.

"What do you think he meant?" Tifa asked over the roar of the wind as Cloud navigated the Edge streets. Shelke had a feeling she knew what Vincent was planning, but she had promised she wouldn't say anything.

"I don't know," Cloud answered, "But whatever he's planning, I don't think we're going to like it."

****

Vincent had arrived at the airfield before the others, despite only being leg powered. The Shera had barely touched down and opened the hatch before Vincent ran in.

"Well, hello to you too," Cid said as Fenrir pulled up and came up the ramp. "What is this, a personal taxi?" the pilot grumbled as he lit a cigarette and closed the hatch. In less than ten minutes, the Shera was airborne again and on course for Wutai. Half an hour into the trip, Cid set it on auto-pilot and asked Cloud what was going on. Vincent had locked himself in the engine room, so he couldn't ask him.

"Godo sent soldiers to kidnap Yuffie," Cloud told him. Cid took a minute to use every swear word he knew.

"Why though?" Cid asked, "What does that pompous &%$# think kidnapping Yuffie could accomplish."

"He wants to force her into an arranged marriage," Cloud said. Yuffie had told them after the letters Godo kept sending. "She already sent him a letter telling him about Vincent."

"But," Cid said, scratching his head, "Why the kidnapping?"

"Because he didn't know," Shelke said, "That Vincent was planning on asking Yuffie to marry him." She had spent the past half an hour trying to find a way around her promise to Vincent, when she realised that he had only made her promise not to tell Yuffie, not everyone else.

"He was what?!" Tifa exclaimed. She had been sitting down in one of the chairs, recovering from the attack on the bar and calling Barret to get up to Edge and look after the kids, but she had now jumped up in surprise.

"He said that he was in town looking for an engagement ring, and he made me promise not to tell Yuffie. But he didn't say anything about telling anyone else."

"Well, I'll be," Cid said, "The vampire's gonna settle down with the brat! That's something to tell the wife."

"That explains why he's been going into town for the last month," Tifa said. She went out the door and to the engine room. She wanted to talk to Vincent about it.

****

Vincent felt like punching something. How could he have been so stupid! He should've been there and kept Yuffie safe. He punched a wall with his clawed hand, head butting it as well.

"Vincent?" the gunslinger turned and saw Tifa standing by the door. He was sure he had locked it, but he didn't really care right now. "Um, we were just talking, and Shelke said that..."

"I was going to ask Yuffie to marry me?" Vincent asked, delivering another punch to the wall.

"How did you know?"

"Because I left her promise open deliberately," Vincent said. His hair swung as he delivered punch after punch, denting the wall. Tifa stopped him from punching it again, grabbing the claw.

"Vincent, don't beat yourself up, there isn't anything you could've done," Tifa said soothingly. Vincent jerked away from her grasp, his cloak swishing through the air. He didn't say anything for a long time, but when he did, his voice was heavy.

"I could have been there," he said, and Tifa could almost feel the guilt in his voice.

"Damn it, stop that right now!" When Vincent turned, Tifa's hands were on her hips. "You weren't there, big deal! You didn't know it was going to happen, so just stop! What's important is what you're going to do, which is rescue Yuffie."

Vincent didn't say anything.

"Just what are you planning, anyway?" Tifa asked.

"...Believe me, you don't want to know," Vincent said, going past her. Tifa followed him to the flight deck. Cid was piloting again, Shelke was sitting the communications deck and Cloud was next to Cid.

"Hey, nice to see you up and about Vinnie," Cid called, waving to him.

"How long till we get to Wutai," Vincent asked, not returning the greeting.

"At least another few hours," Cid answered, "That's the good news."

"How is that the good news?" Vincent asked the chain smoking pilot.

"Coz that means that the bastards that took the brat aren't too far ahead of us," Cid replied, spinning the wheel and adjusting the course.

Vincent felt relief fill his heart, only to be replaced when he realised something, "What's the bad news?"

Cid exchanged a glance with Cloud, who took over. "We got a burst of radio chatter earlier. According to that, Yuffie's supposed to get married to some guy named Soto. Heard of him?"

Vincent had. "He's one of Godo's personal guards; that lets him get away with almost anything. He's not one to stop just because something's in his way."

Cloud and Cid exchanged another look. "So, what's your plan anyway Vincent?"

"We wait until Yuffie's on the ground before we do anything," Vincent said, leaning on the back wall. "Hover high enough so that we don't get spotted by anyone."

"What then?"

"Then...open the hatch and sit back," Vincent said. In his head, he added _'because the fate of my whole word will be decided in a storm of bullets.' _He hadn't beaten the deadline to be engaged to Yuffie, so he had to switch to plan B. He had hoped it wouldn't come to that, but hopes and dreams mounted to very little in his case.

****

The Shera was over the pagoda when they saw Yuffie being dragged to her father and a tall, aged man that was Sato. The hatch was open, and Vincent was sitting at the edge, ready to jump.

"_Vince? This is nuts," _Cid said for about the hundredth time. Vincent didn't respond; he checked that Cerberus was fully loaded.

"Nine shots, then reload," Vincent said to himself, "another nine shots, land on the roof, reload. Get to Yuffie, seven shots, then one shot to stop Godo from coming close. That leaves one shot."

Vincent stood up, his cloak flapping wildly in the wind, his hair whipping his face. He jumped out of the airship, streamlining his body so that he would descend faster. When he was in range, he drew Cerberus and loosed nine shots, pumping the trigger on Cerberus as fast as he could, taking out the guards around Yuffie. He reloaded in midair, and then loosed another nine shots on the auxiliary guards that moved in to replace the ones Vincent downed; disarming shots, he only killed the ones that had dared to hold Yuffie against her will. He landed hard on the roof, rolling so he didn't break anything. He stopped, his cloak billowing. As he reloaded, he noticed Yuffie had looked up to see him, and he could see the joy on her face. Godo and Soto had looked up as well, and he saw Godo say something in anger matching his look.

"_Valentine..."_

****

Yuffie was kicking and struggling, but the guards had her in a firm grip. She screamed, shouted and called for Vincent, but the guards didn't seem to care that they were manhandling the White Rose of Wutai. She saw Godo standing on the stairs of the pagoda, a tall man of about forty standing next to him. Soto...her father was planning to marry her off to _Soto? _Her surprise stopped her struggles for a minute, and then she dug her heels in to the ground, trying to slow the march of the guards. She couldn't get free, so she only had one hope.

"VINCENT!!!"

As if Leviathan had heard her plea, one of the guards dropped, soon, another eight followed. At first, Yuffie didn't know what was going on, then she saw the cause of death; three symmetrical bullet holes. Vincent had heard her; he was coming to save her. Then she saw more guards coming to get her. She got ready to fight, but nine easily heard shots made her preparations redundant as they dropped, groaning in pain. Then she saw him; he was on the roof of the pagoda, looking down at her.

"Vincent," she breathed with relief, joy coursing through her. Her father and Soto turned and looked up, and she heard Godo say Vincent's last name. She hadn't said it in her letter; how the hell did he know his name? Vincent jumped off the roof, landing close to Yuffie. She ran and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He held her with his clawed arm, his other arm still shooting Cerberus. Seven shots, taking down the rest of the guards, leg shots to stop them from getting up. Then he calmly pointed his gun at Godo and fired, missing him by an inch. He stopped cold, Soto moving in front of him.

"Vincent Valentine," Soto said, "How long has it been? Thirty years?"

"Thirty five," Vincent said calmly. Yuffie looked at him in confusion before remembering he was technically over 50 years old, seeing as he slept in a coffin for three decades.

"You haven't aged that much," Soto noted.

"Courtesy of Hojo," Vincent said.

"So, Vincent Valentine is the man that has courted my daughter without my permission," Godo said, waving Soto aside.

"Permission that's hard to get on the other side of the planet!" Yuffie yelled at him.

"Daughter, no arguments," Godo said, "Mr Valentine, if you'd be so kind as to unhand my daughter, we have a wedding to plan."

"No," Vincent said, "you don't."

"You can't flout our traditions Valentine!" Godo was close to exploding point, his beard quivering. "Unless you've already proposed to my daughter, nothing you do can stop me from choosing a husband for her!"

Vincent smiled, and lowered Cerberus. "You're right Godo; my mother was Wutaian, so I know your traditions as well as you do. So I know that, even though I haven't proposed to Yuffie yet, I can stop you from marrying her to Soto."

"Really, how," Godo asked, folding his arms, "how can you do that?"

Vincent turned his to Yuffie, kissing her quickly before he turned his gaze to Soto. "Soto, I challenge you." Everyone present stiffened, Yuffie shaking her head at Vincent. "I challenge you for the right to marry Yuffie Kisaragi."

Godo turned to Soto, who was grinning wildly. Godo knew Vincent had the right to challenge; he had Wutaian blood, no matter how thin. "Soto, do you accept his challenge?"

"I do," Soto said, approaching Vincent and Yuffie, who tightened her hold on Vincent. "I'm going to enjoy this, Valentine," he sneered, his voice rumbling. "Name your time and place."

"Right here," Vincent said, his gaze burning into Soto's, "Noon tomorrow."

"I'll see you then," Soto said, leaning closer, then backing off and bowing to Godo. Then he left.

"I have one request, Lord Godo," Vincent said, "I wish Yuffie to stay with her friends until tomorrow."

"I see no problem with that," Godo said, "But by law, you're not allowed to be in the same facility."

"That's okay," Vincent said, "They already have a place." With that, the Shera came roaring out of the sky.

* * *

Yuffie: Oh man, talk about drama!

Fiori: .......

Yuffie: Before you asked, I cut my way through the window in the bathroom

Fiori: I do not own FFVII or the characters. I only own Soto

Yuffie: No wonder he's such a dick

Fiori: See you next chapter

Yuffie: See ya

Fiori: NOW GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YUFFIE!


	4. Chapter 4: A Promise to Keep

Hey everyone, just to let you know, it looks like there's going to be five chapters instead of four. I could have finished it in this chapter, but it would feel a little forced. Thanks to everyone who's read the story, and a special thanks to those that reviewed.

Read On and Enjoy

* * *

It was early the next morning, and Vincent was preparing for the fight. He wasn't allowed to use Cerberus, and each combatant had to bring their own weapon. Seeing as Vincent hadn't used a hand held weapon in a long time, he was going in with just his claw. He was in some godforsaken room on the outskirts of the pagoda, his cloak hung up on the door. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night; he kept remembering the look of terror on Yuffie's face as she went to the Shera. He had fought tougher enemies than Soto, but granted he had always had Cerberus with him in those fights. The fact that Yuffie was worried about him didn't fill him with a lot of confidence. Tifa better be looking after her, and they had all better keep their mouths shut.

"Vincent?"

Vincent's head jerked to where the voice had come from, and he watched in shock as Yuffie climbed through the window. Vincent stood rooted to the spot as she just came close and wrapped her arms around him. After a moment of hesitation, Vincent returned the gesture.

"Yuffie, you shouldn't be here," Vincent said, "But I'm glad you are."

Yuffie looked up into his crimson eyes, and Vincent could still see the worry in her eyes, which twisted his heart.

"Vince," Yuffie said, taking his hand and walking towards the window, tugging at Vincent to make him follow her, "Let's just go. Right now, we'll run away." Before Vincent could say anything, Yuffie kept going. "We can go to Costa del Sol, or Icicle Inn, hell, we can go to Cosmo Canyon and live on rocks! We can go right now, and Godo won't find us."

"Yuffie," Vincent said, and then Yuffie turned from the window and latched herself to his chest, burying her face. Vincent could feel the sobs wracking her body now, the tears leaking onto his shirt.

"Please, let's just leave Vincent," Yuffie said, her voice muffled, "Please? Then you don't have to fight..."

Vincent slid his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. "Yuffie, we can't run. If we did, we'd never be able to stop. All I have to do is beat Soto, and your father won't be able to separate us. It's a lot easier than anything else I've done, believe me."

"But what if you lose?" Yuffie moaned, burying her face again, "What if you..."

"Stop," Vincent said, sensing what she was going to say, "Right now. Yuffie Kisaragi, I will not lose any fight, no matter how small and inconsequential, where you're concerned. I love you too much."

Yuffie looked up at him, then snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Vincent responded eagerly, not wanting to let her go. For a split second, he considered just taking her and running away, like she wanted. But all too soon, his brain kicked in and he knew he couldn't. He wouldn't make Yuffie a fugitive from her own country. He would _make _Godo accept that Yuffie loved him, and that he loved Yuffie. Vincent broke the kiss, breathing heavily.

"You better not get hurt out there," Yuffie said, pounding his chest with a fist, "Or I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Now I have even more incentive to win," Vincent joked. Yuffie gave him a smile, but the worry was still in her eyes. She kissed him again; a softer kiss this time, then went back out the window towards the Shera. Vincent ran a hand over his face. Now Leviathan was just making things complicated on purpose.

****

When the time came, Vincent donned his cloak and was led back to the pagoda courtyard, where Godo's council and his guard were ringing the arena. Soto was kneeling in the middle, and Yuffie was being held by Tifa, Shelke standing nearby in her mako suit; she had given it to Cid for safekeeping, along with the SND equipment. Cloud and Cid were waiting by Vincent's side of the arena.

"Vincent," Cid said, lighting a cigarette, "This is easily the riskiest thing you've ever done, and I was there when you dove head first into Omega."

"How are you going to win without Cerberus?" Cloud asked. Vincent, making sure Yuffie wasn't looking at him, shrugged and took Cerberus out of its holster and handed it to Cloud.

"Don't break it," Vincent told him, brushing past him and into the circle of guards. Soto stood and turned. He was wearing his uniform, making him look both impressive and intimidating to the spectators, with a white handled katana at his hip. At that point, Godo stood and began to speak about the challenge and what it was about, but Vincent wasn't paying any attention.

"May the challenge," Godo proclaimed, raising his arms to the sky, "begin!"

Soto moved first, drawing his sword and rushing Vincent, who sidestepped with a swirl of his cloak. Soto easily swung around, aiming a slash at Vincent's neck. Vincent leant backwards, the blade not even grazing his neck. Vincent kept going, back-flipping and delivering a metal kick to Soto's jaw. When Vincent landed back on his feet, Soto had already recovered and was preparing to cut him down. Vincent pushed at the ground with hands, twisting his body and sweeping Soto's legs, making him hit the ground like the proverbial tree. Vincent jumped back to his feet and drove his claw at Soto's head, but the older man rolled and the claw just cracked the stone.

Yuffie could barely watch as Vincent and Soto danced around the courtyard, Vincent dodging most of Soto's strikes and catching what he couldn't on his clawed arm. No one was cheering for anyone, but that didn't stop the gasps as Soto, who was normally untouchable, was taking blow after blow from Vincent.

The fight continued for an hour, Vincent staying on the defensive, neither combatant gaining much ground. Then, when Vincent sidestepped another stab, Soto caught Vincent's cloak and cut through it, leaving his friends to gape. Soto took a breather as Vincent looked at the rip, surprise on his face. No one had ever hit his cloak before.

"Oh, you're screwed now Soto," Cid called out to the older man, chuckling "No one has ever managed to get a hit on that thing.

Vincent shook his head as he undid the buckles of the cloak, yanking it off and letting it fall to the ground. Vincent flourished his claw, and then shot toward Soto, who aimed a slash at the gunslinger. Vincent whipped his claw upward, catching the sword and delivering a right handed punch to Soto's abdomen. When Soto doubled over, Vincent kneed him in the same place then delivered an elbow to the back of his neck. Soto sank to the ground, groaning and dropping his sword. Vincent kicked the sword away and looked at Soto with disdain. Then, Vincent grabbed his cloak, buckled it in place, then turned away, heading to Yuffie, who was ecstatic. All of his friends were cheering, and Godo was surprised. Soto had never lost a fight; ever.

"The winner," Godo said slowly, "is Vincent Valentine."

Vincent smiled as Yuffie pulled away from Tifa, running to him. But suddenly, she slowed down and called out his name. Vincent turned, and felt cold steel slide into his gut. Vincent gasped, and then grunted as Soto twisted a knife. Bastard must have hidden it before the fight began.

"VINCENT!" Yuffie cried out as Vincent's body began to sag, blood welling from the wound. Vincent's hand went to Soto's shoulder for support. Soto was grinning madly, Vincent's blood on his clothes. Cloud rushed forward to stop Yuffie from running to Vincent.

"Let me go!" Yuffie shouted, kicking Cloud in the shins. Cid quickly came to the rescue and helped restrain Yuffie. Guards began to move to stop them, but Shelke was faster, zipping in front of them, her orange mako weapons burning. Tifa came to help as well, and it took all three of them to keep Yuffie back.

"Don't worry Valentine," Soto whispered, leaning close to Vincent, twisting the knife even more, "I'll make sure that she bleeds on her wedding night."

Shock hit Vincent's face like a train. Then, anger began to course through what blood was left in his veins; fury that Vincent had never felt before. His crimson eyes seemed to glow even brighter, the blood red burning. Vincent focused all his strength into his clawed hand, flourishing it like he was extending the claws, then with a roar of fury that could make Chaos cringe he drove it through Soto's chest, the claw coming out of the guard's back, severing his spine.

Soto began to gag as his lungs shut down. Vincent held his gaze until the light faded from Soto's eyes, and then pulled his claw back, letting the corpse hit the ground.

"No one," Vincent said, "touches my White Rose." Then, the blood loss kicked in and his knees buckled. Darkness began to eat at the corner of his eyes, and the last thing he saw was Yuffie grabbing at him, speaking without sound and pulling out a glowing materia. Then, Vincent didn't see anything.

****

"VINCENT!" Yuffie elbowed and kicked her way out of her friends grasps, running to him, sliding to the ground and stopping him from falling. "Vinnie, come on, look at me," she said, grabbing his face, "Come on, Vince, you'll make it." She dug into a pocket of her shorts for a Heal materia, activating it by the stab wound. The green glow slowed the bleeding, but not by much. Vincent was still losing too much blood. Yuffie put her hands over the wound, trying to slow the bleeding. Vincent couldn't die, he couldn't, he promised.

"Come on," she heard Cid say, "Let's get him on the Shera before he bleeds to death."

"Wait," a loud voice said. Yuffie turned and saw her father with a more powerful materia than the one Yuffie used. He threw it to Yuffie, who caught it and activated it, slowing the bleeding to a trickle. Cloud and Cid quickly took advantage of that and picked the unconscious Vincent up. Yuffie walked beside them, grabbing Vincent's hand. Shelke and Tifa were keeping the guards back, until Godo called them off. Within a few minutes, they were all on the Shera, Vincent was in a medical tube and Cid was prepping her for takeoff.

"I tell ya," he said to Cloud, "I ain't ever seen anything like that in my life."

"I know," Cloud said, "Vincent's lucky."

"Yeah," Cid agreed, "Lucky to have the brat get him stabbed."

"That's not fair, Cid," Cloud snapped.

"I didn't mean it like that," Cid said, backing off slightly, "I meant that he let himself get distracted. Good thing it didn't hit anything vital, or it could've been a %$&#load worst."

"Think he'll be alright by the time we get to Edge?"

"No," Cid said, "I don't. These vats will let his blood get back to normal, but I wouldn't leave him in one of those. Good old fashioned bed rest'll get him on his feet quicker than one of those."

Cloud acknowledged that with an 'hmm'. "Do we have enough fuel to get back to Edge?"

Cid cast the spiky haired swordsman a look that said 'what do you think?' Out loud, he said "We may have to coast in when we get there, but we won't be plummeting out of the sky just yet."

****

Vincent floated in the darkness for what seemed forever. He couldn't see or hear anything.

'If this is what dying is like,' Vincent thought, 'I demand a refund.' God, he was making bad Yuffie jokes now. That girl had changed him a lot since they first met.

A memory suddenly popped up, filling the darkness. It was the first time he had woken up for thirty years, and his first sight was a round face with stormy grey eyes, looking at him in wonder. As quickly as it had come, the memory faded. The old Vincent would have written the memory off as a near-death experience and waited for death to claim him. But the new Vincent, Yuffie's Vincent, wasn't going to give up so easily...

His eyelids fluttered and opened, straining against the light. Vincent groaned and sat up, looking around. He wasn't in Wutai, that much was obvious from the ceiling. It took him a moment to realise that he was in the Seventh Heaven. How had he gotten here?

"HEY!!!" A voice pierced into his skull. Vincent looked up and saw Barret and Marlene staring at him.

"Barret," Vincent said weakly. He tried sitting up, but a sharp pain in his stomach told him that Soto's handiwork was still there. "What are you doing here?"

"Tifa gave me a call about a week ago," Barret explained, "asked me to come up and look after the kids. Next thing we know, Cid and Cloud came in dragging your sorry ass up to bed. Yuffie was a wreck, I tell ya. Came in looking like it was the end of the world; hardly left you're side."

"What happened?" Marlene asked with wide eyes.

Vincent propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Barret, who shrugged. "Someone tried to take Yuffie away," Vincent said, turning his gaze to Marlene, "I had to go get her back."

"Because you love her," Marlene said, "right?"

"Yes," Vincent answered. Marlene squealed and ran out of the room. "What is it with girls and squealing?" he asked Barret, putting a hand on his head. Who knew blood loss could cause headaches?

"Got me," Barret said, "You and Yuffie, I never get tired of hearing that. Someone like her is hard come by Vincent. You better treat her right."

"I plan on it," Vincent said. Barret huffed and stuck his head out the door.

"OI, HE'S AWAKE!" Barret called out, leaving Vincent alone for what felt like a few seconds.

Vincent's brain felt like mush as someone came thundering up the stairs. Yuffie burst through the door, breathing like she had just run a marathon. A smile lit up her face, and she dashed across the door and practically tackled him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

"I, can't, breathe," Vincent managed to choke out. Yuffie quickly let go, then glared at him and smacked him in the chest. "What was that for?" Vincent demanded.

"For breaking your promise," Yuffie said, folding her arms.

"I'm sorry about that," Vincent said, "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you." He meant it; he _did _promise not to get hurt.

"Really," Yuffie said, drawing the word out, sitting on the side of his bed, running a finger along his forearm. It was at this point that Vincent realised that he wasn't wearing a shirt, or his glove, or his claw. Once he had taken these facts in, he felt very vulnerable, seeing as he still had a wound in his gut. "And how are you going to do that?"

"Not in the way you're thinking."

"Why not," Yuffie asked, lying on Vincent's chest and gazing at him with those big stormy grey eyes that almost made Vincent crumble. But he wasn't Cloud.

"One," Vincent said, "I still have a hole in my gut. And two," Vincent looked pointedly over to the door, "we have an audience." Yuffie turned around and saw Cloud, Tifa and Shelke standing by the door.

"Hey Vince," Cloud said, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Vincent replied, "Considering."

"Good," Tifa said, "Everyone was worried about you. You were out for a week, it really made us anxious. Not that any of the guys will admit it," she added, smiling at Cloud.

Vincent smiled, then leant his head back and closed his eyes. He was tired, even though he had slept for a week. He brought his right arm up to stroke Yuffie's hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," Yuffie said, "You know me; nothing keeps me down. But," her voice going soft, "If you ever make me worry about you like that again, I'll kill you myself," She leant up and kissed Vincent on the cheek. She climbed off him and began to shoo everyone out. "Come on, shows over, let him rest. GO!"

"Get well soon, Vincent," Shelke said, smiling at him before Yuffie got rid of everyone. The ninja blew a kiss in his direction, and then closed the door, leaving Vincent alone with his thoughts.

****

Later, Vincent wished he had a ball or something to alleviate the boredom, but his bandaged abdomen made it hard just to sit up. During his reverie, where he was thinking of every possible way to count the various scratches on the opposite wall, Cloud walked in with a tray of food.

"Yuffie's helping Tifa at the bar," Cloud explained, "So I've been delegated maid tasks."

"All you need is the frilly apron and it'll be perfect," Vincent said.

"Ha ha, very funny Vincent," Cloud said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he gave Vincent the tray. "I'll be going, before Yuffie comes to kick my ass for bugging you. Let me know if you need anything." Cloud turned to leave.

"Actually," Vincent said, remembering something, "Cloud, could you do me a favour?"

"Sure," Cloud said, turning around. "What do you need?"

"I need something picked up," Vincent said, "Can you get it for me?"

"This wouldn't be something for a special ninja now, would it?" Cloud asked. Vincent just gave him a look that told him everything. "Okay, no problem, I'll grab it in the morning. What's the address?"

Vincent rattled off the address from memory. "Don't let her see it, okay?"

"Vincent," Cloud said, "I'm a delivery boy, remember?"

Vincent shook his head as he began eating, Cloud taking his leave. Soon, Vincent would be able to put everything the way it should be.

* * *

Yuffie: Fiori doesn't own Final Fantasy. Which is probably a good thing.

Fiori: *Angry twitching*

Yuffie: Uh-oh, um...goodbye! *runs off*

Fiori: Finally, some peace and quiet. I'll see you next chapter, kay? Ciao


	5. Chapter 5: A Question to Ask

Well, here it is. The last chapter of Vincent's White Rose. I would like to thank Mistress of Dragons and NinjaSheik for their constant feedback through the whole thing. I couldn't resist a bit of a sap ending, so...

Read On and Enjoy

* * *

It was the most boring week ever for the wounded gunslinger. Another entire week, sitting propped up on pillows, not being allowed to move. Even though his wound was stitched and the major damage already healed with materia, Yuffie and Tifa weren't letting him leave his room. Tifa because she was slowly becoming a mother hen, Yuffie because she enjoyed teasing Vincent when he could barely retaliate. She was becoming quite insistent that they start their..._physical _relationship once Vincent was better. Nothing Vincent said could keep her from just running her fingers up his arms, or placing little kisses on his neck, trying to get him to cave in early. It took all of Vincent's self control to resist her advances, and that was a lot of self control.

"Knock, knock," Cloud said, interrupting what could have been a very interesting situation. "Sorry," he said, as Yuffie glared at him from on top of Vincent, who was breathing heavily from the extremely long and passionate kiss that Yuffie was using to break his self control (It had almost worked too), "was I interrupting something?"

"You could have been," Yuffie said haughtily, climbing off of Vincent, laying a kiss on his forehead. She smacked Cloud on the shoulder as she left, "stupid Chocobo Head" her parting line as she walked down the stairs. Cloud quickly checked that no one was in the hall, and then he closed the door and pulled out a small velvet black box, tossing it to Vincent.

"You," Cloud said as Vincent opened the box, "have very good tastes." The ring was the exact same as the one Vincent had seen in that advertisement. The materia jewel was a bright blue, and the band was a white gold, practically silver. "I think you're only problem's going to be when she sees the materia and she swipes it before you can say anything."

Vincent chuckled at that. "So, you think she'll like it?" he asked. He may as well get someone else's opinion; it didn't matter that much, he was still going to ask Yuffie as soon as he was allowed to walk around. That way, she wouldn't think it was something brought on by a near death experience.

"Of course she will," Cloud said, "Now, get some rest okay?" Cloud left and Vincent smiled before closing the box, closing his eyes to rest. A few minutes later, Cloud slowly backed his way into the room and closed the door, locking it. Vincent opened his eyes and looked at the spiky haired swordsman in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Vincent asked, "Is Tifa trying to kick your ass again?" His question was answered by the sudden sound of running and banging on the door.

"Cloud," Tifa shouted, "Open this door right now!"

Cloud just kept backing up. "What did you do in the past few minutes to piss Tifa off?" Vincent asked curiously. That was a new record, even for Cloud.

"She's not angry," Cloud said, "At least, I don't think she is."

"What did you tell her?" Vincent asked, still listening to Tifa bang on the door.

"That I picked something up for you. Next thing I know, she starts squealing. Good thing Yuffie's out, or she'd have beaten me up her," Cloud explained. Then he noticed something; Tifa wasn't banging on the door any more. "Oh, crap," he said, grabbing a heavy box and putting it in front of the door, "She must have gone for a key. That'll stop her."

"I don't think so," Vincent said.

Cloud looked at him and asked, "And why not?"

"Because the door can swing open the other way," Vincent pointed out. Cloud paled as he realised Vincent was right. Before he could do anything, Tifa had run back up the stairs, inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, eyes on Vincent. She jumped over the box and ran to his side, hand out.

"Let me see it," she demanded. Vincent didn't need to ask what she meant.

"Any particular reason," Vincent asked, gripping the box tightly in his hand, "why I should?"

"Because," Tifa said, not taking her hand back, "I'm the one who spends the most time with Yuffie apart from you, so I can tell you if she'll like it or not."

"Teef, let the guy rest," Cloud tried, but he got no reaction from his over excitable girlfriend, a world first.

"No, it's okay Cloud," Vincent said, handing Tifa the box, "A woman's opinion might be welcome."

"There's no 'maybe' about it," Tifa said, bringing the box up to eye level, opening it carefully. Her eyes widened when she took in the glowing blue materia and silvery shine of the white-gold band. "Oh my god," she said as she admired the ring, "That's beautiful; Yuffie will love it." She handed the box back to Vincent, and then she turned on Cloud. "Why don't you ever buy me things like that?" she demanded, folding her arms.

"Great," Cloud said as he moved the box away from the door, "Thanks Vincent, now she has something _else _to complain at me about."

"It's a serious question Cloud," Tifa said, following her boyfriend out of the room, "You don't ever by me anything; why?"

"Because you'd find out about it before I gave it to you," Cloud said simply, "Which makes the whole process pointless except on your birthday." Their voices drifted down the stairs, leaving Vincent by himself again. Suddenly, he didn't want to be on his own; he stood up, wincing as his wound twinged. He moved slowly, trying to not aggravate the stitching and grabbed his shirt, which was still torn from his fight with Soto. His glove and claw weren't up here, and neither was his cloak. So, he walked to the door slowly, opening it and making sure no one could drag him back to his room. He took the stairs one at a time, being extremely careful not to rip open his stitches. He could hear Yuffie's voice downstairs, and then he realised that the ring was still in his hand. Crap, he should've left it under his pillow or something. Lacking options, he put it in his pocket, hoping that no one would notice it.

****

"Okay," Yuffie said as she came in, "Next time you need groceries, get them yourself." Tifa was at the bar, in discussion with Cloud, but the conversation ended as soon as she walked in the door.

"Why?" Tifa asked, hoping Yuffie hadn't caught the conversation. She and Cloud were discussing when, where and how Vincent would propose, and Cloud had almost started begging that Tifa stay out of it. "Was it that bad?"

Yuffie put the two bags of groceries on the counter. "Two guys just wouldn't get the meaning of 'I have a boyfriend, so back off.' I had to give them the slip just to get your stupid fresh food."

"Want me to shoot them?" A voice asked from the stairs. Everyone turned and saw Vincent leaning on the wall, smiling.

"Vincent!" Yuffie cried out, bounding to his side. "What the hell are you doing? You haven't fully healed yet!"

"I am not staying in that tiny room any longer," Vincent told her, "I'm fine," he said quickly, seeing the concern in Yuffie's eyes, "it's just been two weeks since I last walked any distance."

Yuffie supported him as he walked to a table, not wanting to try his luck on a stool. He sat down a little heavily, but otherwise he was the same as always, just a little tired. Before Yuffie could scold him, the door to the bar opened and Reeve walked in, a Cait Sith at his heels.

"Ah, Vincent," he said, "Nice to see you up and about."

"Reeve," Vincent greeted the WRO leader, "I see you have another one," he said, nodding at the Cait Sith.

"Yes," Reeve said, looking forlorn, "You know, I still haven't forgiven you for shooting my last one."

"I told you," Vincent said with a straight face, "Cerberus misfired."

"Of course it did," Reeve said sarcastically, "Just when he was about to say how happy he was that you and Yuffie were together."

Vincent said nothing, and Reeve sighed and scratched his head. "Well, it's water under the bridge. Anyway, I was just in the area and I thought I'd ask you something."

"Go ahead," Vincent said, gesturing to the seat in front of him. Yuffie held his hand tightly, wrapping her other hand on his arm. Reeve sat down and put his hands in his lap, Cait Sith jumping on the table and curling up like a regular cat.

"I've been doing some research into Deepground," Reeve said, "And I've found numerous references to someone known only as 'G'. According to what I've been able to decipher, he's another of Shinra's projects. I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"Why would he know about some random letter?" Yuffie demanded, her grip tightening on Vincent's hand. Vincent carefully returned the pressure to calm her down.

"G..." Vincent said under his breath, "Sounds like one of Hojo's pet projects. But I don't ever recall ever hearing of anything like it, sorry."

"That's okay," Reeve said, picking Cait Sith up and standing, "But maybe once you've recovered, you could give me a hand."

"I'll think about it, Reeve," Vincent told him, "But if this 'G' has something to do with Deepground, it might be worth talking to Shelke."

"You're right," Reeve agreed, "I'm heading over to Shelke's next. Thank you, Vincent." Reeve said goodbye to Tifa and Cloud and left. Soon after he left, Barret came in with the two kids.

"Hey, Vince," Barret called out, "You allowed to move again?"

"No," Vincent answered, "But I'm moving anyway. If I sit up there any longer, I'll die of boredom."

"I don't blame ya," Barret said, "Marlene, go upstairs with Denzel, okay? The grownups have gotta talk."

Marlene pouted, but grabbed Denzel's wrist and dragged him upstairs. "Yuffie, could ya go up and watch 'em for me, please?" Barret asked the ninja.

"Oh, I don't count as a grownup now, huh?" Yuffie said, folding her arms and pouting. Barret just gave her a look. "I'm going, I'm going," she said, kissing Vincent on the cheek before following the children up the stairs. Vincent felt the eyes of Tifa, Cloud and Barret on him and realised what was going on.

"Oh god," Vincent said, using the table to get up, "I think I'd rather bore myself to death than become an interrogation subject."

"Come on," Tifa said, "We just want to know-."

"Tifa," Vincent said, turning away from the stairs, "Please, just this one time, mind your own business." He turned and made his way up the stairs, which was harder than going down them. Once he got to the top, however, his knees gave way and he hit the ground.

"Okay," Vincent said, breathing heavily, "Next time, walk around the room a little bit, _before _trying to climb up stairs." He tried to get back up, but his legs didn't want to comply with his wishes.

"Vincent?" Yuffie's voice came from the other end of the hall.

"Are you okay, Uncle Vincent?" Marlene's voice came from the same direction. Some footsteps later, Yuffie and Marlene were trying to help him up.

"I'm fine," Vincent assured them, "I was just a little dizzy."

"Would it kill you," Yuffie asked as she and Marlene picked Vincent up and helped him to his room, "To ask for help every so often?" Yuffie supported Vincent's weight until they reached his bed, where he sat down on the mattress, hard. Marlene left quickly, closing the door, and Yuffie slid Vincent's shirt off so that she could see if he had ripped open the stitches.

"Oh," Yuffie said, looking up at him, "You're lucky you haven't ripped these." She made to stand, but Vincent's hand wrapped around her elbow, pulling her back down. "What?" she asked confusedly, then her eyes shined mischievously as she moved closer, "Have you changed your mind then?"

"Yuffie," Vincent said, pushing her back slightly, "I'm trying to ask you something, and you're making it very difficult to concentrate. I'm nervous enough as it is."

"You, nervous," Yuffie said in disbelief, "What could possibly make you nervous? What are you gonna do, p..." Yuffie cut off her own thought as Vincent pulled a black box out of his pocket and offered it to her.

"Yuffie Kisaragi," Vincent said, trying to keep the nervousness in his voice to a minimum, "Will you marry me?"

Yuffie brain practically shut down when her brain processed those four words and the meaning behind them. Vincent wanted to marry her. Then her brain kicked into overdrive with questions; why? Was it because of Godo? Was it because he almost died? Why now; what had happened? Then, looking up at Vincent, she saw all the answers in his eyes.

He loved her; pure and simple. Marriage was just something that told everyone that fact, and told everyone that he was hers, and she was his. They both knew that, but very few people, namely her father, wouldn't accept it until it was made official by law and all that other crap that had nothing to do with how they felt about each other.

"Yes," Yuffie whispered. Vincent smiled and opened the box, revealing a white-gold ring with a glowing blue materia in place of a diamond. Yuffie gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in surprise. "Vince, it's beautiful," she said as he took it out and slipped it onto her left hand.

"Fits perfectly too," Vincent said, his tone slightly joking, "That saves me some Gil." Yuffie just shook her head and pulled Vincent into a passionate kiss.

"_I can't hear anything," _a voice said, muffled by the door. Vincent and Yuffie broke apart, looking at the door in confusion.

"_Well, shut up then," _a deeper voice said. Was that Barret? That meant that the other voice was Tifa.

"_What are you doing?" _Marlene's voice was louder than the others.

"_Hey, you told us eavesdropping was bad!" _Denzel's voice sounded.

Amidst the argument on the other side of the door, there was suddenly a cracking sound. Then, the door gave way, sprawling Tifa and Barret onto the ground, groaning.

"I told you," Cloud said, appearing suddenly and looking down at his girlfriend, "Vincent told you, but you still didn't listen. Now I'm going to have to fix this damn door because you couldn't keep your nose out of their business."

"Well," Vincent said, almost grinning, "Guess that means my Gil has to go into a wedding planner now."

Tifa, still dazed as she stood up, was suddenly in instant recovery mode. "What did you just say?" she demanded.

"Well," Vincent said, "I was _hoping _that you could give Yuffie a hand in planning the wedding, but like Cloud said, you didn't listen when I asked you to mind your own business."

"Oh, come on Vince," Yuffie said, looking at her fiancé, "I don't want some stranger helping me plan our wedding. Let Tifa do it; she knows me as well as you do."

"Yeah," Tifa said, excitedly, "I'll work for free, and you won't be disappointed, I promise! And I'll stay out of your business for a whole year! Please? Please? Please, please, please, please, PLEASE?!" she pleaded, bouncing up and down like a schoolgirl.

Vincent considered it for a few seconds, and then nodded. Both girls squealed loudly, Yuffie hugging Vincent tightly, then following Tifa out of the door.

"Man, Vince," Barret said as he got up, "You caved quicker than Cloud."

"Did I?" Vincent asked, looking at Cloud.

"That should keep Tifa busy for a while," Cloud said, "Thanks Vincent."

"You're welcome, Cloud," Vincent responded, smiling.

"What the hell did I miss?" Barret asked, looking back and forth between the swordsman and the gunslinger.

"A couple of days ago," Cloud said, "I walked in on Tifa looking over some papers. She's been playing wedding planner for a couple of months now. I told Vincent, and he came up with a plan to keep Tifa off my back."

"Why?" Barret asked, then realised what Cloud meant. "Oh man, everyone's settling down now. Makes a guy depressed." He left after congratulating Vincent.

"Yay, Vincent's marrying Yuffie!" Marlene sang, running after Tifa and Yuffie, wanting to help.

After offering their congratulations, Cloud took Denzel and offered to show him how Fenrir worked, so he didn't feel left out. That left Vincent by himself. He lay down, closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head. He had finally done it; he had proposed. Yuffie had said yes, and he wouldn't be bothered by Tifa for an entire year, which was the bonus from the situation.

****

As Tifa gushed out her plans out to Yuffie, who was surprised to find at least a month's worth of work already done, Yuffie admired the blue materia set into her ring. She was getting married, and to Vincent. She'd write to her father tomorrow to tell him the news, just in case he had a back-up husband tucked away. In a few months, she wouldn't be Miss Kisaragi. She would be Mrs Valentine; she had to admit, she liked the sound of that. But she had another title already in mind, as she technically wouldn't be Wutai's White Rose anymore. She would be Vincent's.

"Vincent's White Rose..." she mused quietly. She really liked the sound of that.

* * *

Yuffie: Awww! That was cute!

Fiori: GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!

Yuffie: Oh, come on!

Fiori: OUT!

Yuffie: Okay, okay, sheesh. Fiori does not own FFVII or the characters.

Fiori: No, I don't. NOW GET OUT!


End file.
